Featured

Third Wave Rum Part 2

This is the second of two pieces about something we’re calling “Third Wave Rum.” We started Part 1 off with a few light jabs at woke consumerism and the moral and gastronomic superiority of cashing in on the “right” kind of ethical product or business. We’re in the

Featured

Third Wave Rum

We are what we drink We are what we eat (or drink)—at least this is the driving idea behind contemporary trends in food and beverages that seek transcendence, quality, transparency, and even social equity in cheese, wine, fruit, and, yes, distilled spirits too. Agro-food activism, as performed by Slow

Happy Holidays From P&C!

Hi Friends, What a year it’s been! As we prepare for a brief holiday break, we reflect on the triumphs and curveballs we have navigated this year, both in our own business and in the wider world. We took on more robust sales initiatives this year and added Sergeant

Whiskey

117° West Spirits Is All About Malt

When Justin McCabe was finishing his PhD program in chemistry and environmental science at the University of California San Diego, he’d already been brewing beer at home for years. In 2007, as environmental science funding hit an all-time low and a case of academia burnout settled on McCabe, he

Jettywave Distillery: Coastal Californian Spirits

Not far from the surf break in Half Moon Bay that inspired its name, Jettywave Distillery is firing up its stills to produce aromatic craft gin, bourbon, single malt, absinthe, and liqueurs, while bartenders pick fresh herbs from the garden surrounding the Swell Lounge for the day’s cocktails. The

Introducing Sergeant Classick Rum

Common traits run through the entrepreneurial craft distillers we’ve met in this business; a connection to engineering, a passion for tinkering, a background in homebrewing (usually in a garage), and a killer palate. There comes a moment when these traits coalesce into a desire to distill, and for the

Q&A with Dave Classick Jr. from Essential Spirits

We interviewed Dave Classick Jr. from one of California's earliest craft distilleries for a piece we wrote on Sergeant Classick Silver Rum (read that here). Here's the full interview: 1. I know you and Dave Sr. started Essential Spirits in the early days of California craft

Nuanced, complex, historic: Ortolan Rosolio's Cal-Italian vibes

We've partnered with Ortolan Rosolio to bring you a beautiful, complex, Californian expression of the Italian classic made with heirloom roses from Sonoma and Ventura counties. Applying traditional techniques he learned in Europe to the roses in the garden of his childhood home in Berkeley, founder Rob Collier

Backstage

Introducing Ambix Spirits

“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits. Let the most beautiful or the swiftest have it. That should be the 'going' price of apples.” - Henry David Thoreau America loves apples. The fleshy, hardy fruit is hard-coded into our national DNA—”as American as apple pie” is

Amaro

Amaro

If you remember your first sip of coffee, beer, or cough medicine, you are likely recalling memories of your childhood palate’s introduction to bitterness. At first, you probably recoiled at the sensations this bitterness caused—maybe a prickle on the back of your tongue, a "yuk" face,

Recipes

Summer Drinks, California Bounty

Hi Friends, We don't want to brag, but we're pretty lucky living out here in California when it comes to sourcing produce. With so many farms and farmers markets nearby, it's easy to keep an eye on the seasons and watch them unfold in

Liqueur

Hold on to your walnuts, we're making Nocino!

Hi Folks, We just hauled 175 pounds of green walnuts from Santa Cruz back to our Berkeley warehouse and have been hand-slicing our way through the enormous pile for maceration in grape brandy. What are we up to? We’re making nocino! If you’re not familiar with nocino, it’

Rum

Meet Cheramie Rum

Until recently, Louisiana’s largest distillery—Porchjam—specialized in grain-based vodka. But in 2018, they (literally) started tapping into the nearby annual cane harvest and distilling fermented fresh cane juice. Soon after, Cheramie Rum was born. While most of the juice from Louisiana’s sugarcane plants is processed into sugar,

The History of the Martini

For a famously crystal-clear cocktail, the martini’s back story sure is murky. Who Invented the Martini? Anecdotes abound for who first created the cocktail we now recognize as the gin martini (we’ll get to vodka later). It may have been a celebrating 19th century gold miner in the

Happy Holidays from Pekut & Carwick Independent Bottlers

Hi Folks, 2022 is almost at an end, and we want to thank each and every one of you for your support and engagement over the past year. We've been growing the business and slowly expanding our reach, and we couldn't have done it without you.

Whiskey

The History of Punch

You may talk of brisk Claret, sing Praises of Sherry Speak well of old Hock, Mum, Cider or Perry; But you must drink Punch if you mean to be Merry. (18th century song lyric) What is punch? To the modern drinker, the word "punch" might imply a trash

Rum

Tru Jamaica Rum Cake

The Caribbean islands are known for their rum-laced baked goods, and no wonder, since rum, molasses, and sugar were—and still are—locally produced and relatively abundant, making them ready ingredients for many local gastronomic delicacies, particularly desserts. What Is Rum Cake? Enslaved and indentured cooks throughout the Caribbean took

Spirit Works Wheat & Rye Whiskies Are Here!

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” --Mark Twain The wait is over! We've bottled limited supplies of our All Wheat Whiskey and Rye/Malt Whiskey from our friends at Spirit Works Distillery—just in time for you to stuff

Prunus Mume Made the SF Chronicle Gift List!

Last week we cracked open our SF Chronicle and found ourselves face to face with a photo of our Prunus Mume liqueur in their 2022 gift guide! Whoa! That's right, our sweet-tart Prunus Mume umeshu liqueur has the official SF Chronicle stamp of approval, which means bringing a

Handbook of Rum

The world guide to rum

Where does rum come from? In his book, Rum, a Social and Sociable History, Ian Williams calls rum "the global spirit with its warm beating heart in the Caribbean." Dreamy metaphor aside, most rum styles are legacies of former Caribbean colonies, but that "warm beating heart"

Handbook of Rum

The Rum Flip Is Your New/Old Holiday Cocktail

The days are short, the weather’s cold By tavern fires tales are told. Some ask for dram when first come in. Others with flip and bounce begin. -from And a Bottle of Rum, by Wayne Curtis, excerpted from a 1704 almanac To the uninitiated, the season may be early

Ethics

Why Independent Bottling?

We occupy a unique position in the distilled spirits industry. We co-brand. We import, blend, bottle, rectify, and distribute. We don't distill, but we work with farmers, fruit growers, and distillers. We even do private label bottling. We're testing the boundaries of making, marketing, and selling

Handbook of Rum

The most interesting US rum

We take delicious and ethically produced rum seriously. For us, that means finding rum producers who make and market interesting products that we can get behind, both as consumers and as importers/bottlers/distributors. Domestic rum is particularly interesting to us. Sorting through ALL the rum made in the US

The top ten best selling rum brands and what we can learn from them

What's the most sold rum in the world? The answer might surprise you. According to one online market research database, the Asia-Pacific rum market accounted for a dominating 41.6% of rum’s market share in 2021, mostly driven by India and the Philippines. When you consider further

Rum

How Did Rum Get Its Name?

In an effort to provide you with ALL the information about our products while still satisfying the inquisitive nerd within, we’re writing a rum handbook. You’ll be our guinea pig as we serve up the story of the spirit—from rum’s origin to its current standing in